Traction vehicles such as, for example, locomotives in a rail vehicle consist (“consist” referring to a group of vehicles linked to travel together along a route), may employ traction motors for driving wheels of the traction vehicle. During operation of the traction motors, a moving velocity and/or rotational speed of the traction vehicle may be monitored on a display by the operator of the traction vehicle. The speed is measured by one or more speed sensors and corresponding measuring circuitry, which output the measured speed on the display. The measured speed may be used to control various functions of the traction vehicle like torque production, adhesion optimization, as well as speed control.
When a speed sensor failure is detected, the failure may be caused by the speed sensor itself, the corresponding measuring circuitry, and/or the traction motor. To determine a cause of the failure, a technician tests each system to determine the component(s) causing the failure using a conventional testing system. The conventional testing system is a collection of separate pieces of large hardware such as a battery and a large electric motor. The conventional testing system weighs over sixty pounds, and is only movable while on a cart that is positioned by the technician. The weight and separated hardware of the conventional system limit where and/or how the conventional testing system can be used. Additionally, the use of the conventional testing system is limited to specific traction motors having an alternating current speed sensor.